The parishes of Jamaica are the main units of local government in

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispanio ...

. They were created following the English

Invasion of Jamaica The Invasion of Jamaica took place in May 1655, during the 1654 to 1660 Anglo-Spanish War, when an English expeditionary force captured Spanish Jamaica. It was part of an ambitious plan by Oliver Cromwell to acquire new colonies in the Americ ...

in 1655. This administrative structure for the

Colony of Jamaica The Crown Colony of Jamaica and Dependencies was a British colony from 1655, when it was captured by the English Protectorate from the Spanish Empire. Jamaica became a British colony from 1707 and a Crown colony in 1866. The Colony was prima ...

developed slowly. However, since 1 May 1867 Jamaica has been divided into the current fourteen

parishes A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

. These were retained after

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the st ...

in 1962. They are grouped into three historic

counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

, which no longer have any administrative relevance. Every parish has a coast; none are landlocked.

List

⁽¹⁾ The parishes of Kingston and Saint Andrew together form the ''

Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation The Kingston and Saint Andrew Corporation (KSAC) is a unit of local government in Jamaica. It was formed in 1923 when the parishes of Saint Andrew Parish, Jamaica, Saint Andrew and Kingston Parish, Kingston were administratively merged. It is divid ...

''.
⁽²⁾ The parish of Kingston does not encompass all of the city of Kingston. Most of the city is in the parish of St. Andrew.

History

Early history

Following the English conquest of Jamaica the first phase of colonisation was carried out by the Army, with a system of Regimental plantations. These were drawn up on the southern flat lands, with the Regimental commanders charged with ordering their men to plant provisions. Certain key figures such as and Luke Stokes (1656) and Thomas Modyford (1664)''Jamaica Gleaner'' "Jamaica and the Atlantic Slave Trade (Part II)"
26 March 2006 brought substantial numbers of colonists from other English colonies. In 1662 the first census was carried out. There were no parishes and the division of the island into ten districts.

Creation of the parishes

Under Governor Modyford the island was divided into precincts and parishes and he commissioned a map of the island featuring these. The first parishes were: *Saint Catherine *Clarendon *Liguanea (St Andrew) *Saint Thomas *Port Royal *Saint John *Saint David By 1675, the following parishes had been added: *Vere (separated from Clarendon in 1673) *Saint George *Saint Thomas in the Vale *Saint Dorothy *Saint Ann *Saint Elizabeth *Saint James *Saint Mary In 1677, An Act for Regulating the Parishes fixed the boundaries of each parish.National Archives of Jamaica.
lancaster.ac.uk Retrieved 28 June 2019.

The Grant reforms

Map of the island of Jamaica LOC 2012586632

The crisis highlighted by the

Morant Bay rebellion The Morant Bay Rebellion (11 October 1865) began with a protest march to the courthouse by hundreds of people led by preacher Paul Bogle in Morant Bay, Jamaica. Some were armed with sticks and stones. After seven men were shot and killed by ...

led to the dissolution of the

House of Assembly of Jamaica The House of Assembly was the legislature of the British colony of Jamaica. It held its first meeting on 20 January 1664 at Spanish Town. Cundall, Frank. (1915''Historic Jamaica''.London: Institute of Jamaica. p. 15. As a result of the Morant B ...

, and the colonial administration being turned into a

crown colony A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony administered by The Crown within the British Empire. There was usually a Governor, appointed by the British monarch on the advice of the UK Government, with or without the assistance of a local Council ...

John Peter Grant Sir John Peter Grant, GCMG, KCB, (28 November 1807 – 6 January 1893), was a British colonial administrator who served as Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal (1859–1862) and as Governor of Jamaica. Life John Peter Grant was born in London on 28 N ...

was appointed Governor arriving in August 1866, and he set about instituting a number of reforms, including the administrative framework of the parishes. He introduced the by which the 22 existing parishes to 14 through the A Law to Reduce the Number of Parishes (1867/No.20). Parishes have been a feature of local administration in Jamaica since the island was captured by the English in 1655. The number has varied over time and some no longer exist having either been absorbed into or divided between neighbouring parishes. At the peak, 1841–1865, there were 22 (the current 14 plus those listed below). The current set of parishes was established in 1866 with the elimination of the 8 listed below (roughly by county): Surrey: *

Port Royal Port Royal is a village located at the end of the Palisadoes, at the mouth of Kingston Harbour, in southeastern Jamaica. Founded in 1494 by the Spanish, it was once the largest city in the Caribbean, functioning as the centre of shipping and ...

(now divided between Kingston and Saint Andrew) *

Saint George Saint George ( Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldier ...

(now divided between Saint Mary and Portland) *

Saint David Saint David ( cy, Dewi Sant; la, Davidus; ) was a Welsh bishop of Mynyw (now St Davids) during the 6th century. He is the patron saint of Wales. David was a native of Wales, and tradition has preserved a relatively large amount of detail abo ...

(now part of Saint Thomas) Middlesex: * Metcalfe (now part of Saint Mary) * Saint Dorothy (now part of Saint Catherine) * Saint John (now part of Saint Catherine) * Saint Thomas in the Vale (now part of Saint Catherine)note that the current Saint Thomas used to be named "Saint Thomas in the East" to differentiate between the two parishes at the time. * Vere (now part of Clarendon)

Counties of Jamaica

Jamaica is divided into three historic

, though they have no administrative function today. They were established in 1758 to facilitate the holding of courts along the lines of the British

county court A county court is a court based in or with a jurisdiction covering one or more counties, which are administrative divisions (subnational entities) within a country, not to be confused with the medieval system of ''county courts'' held by the hig ...

system. The three counties are named for the English historic counties of

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbouri ...

, and

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

. Cornwall County was named for being the westernmost county, just like its namesake. Middlesex County was named for its location on the middle third of Jamaica. Surrey County was named for the English county in which

Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable as ...

is found, because Kingston was its

county town In the United Kingdom and Ireland, a county town is the most important town or city in a county. It is usually the location of administrative or judicial functions within a county and the place where the county's members of Parliament are elect ...

References

External links

Jamaica Parishes
a concise description of the parishes in Jamaica.
Maps of the parishes of Jamaica
{{Americas topic, Administrative divisions of Jamaica 1 Parishes, Jamaica Jamaica geography-related lists Jamaica, Parishes Subdivisions of Jamaica *